Method of and apparatus for tunnel construction



Feb. 10, 1931'. w, F, GLASSER 1,792,084

METHOD OF AND APPARATUS FOR TUNNEL CONSTRUCTION Filed June 9. 1926 sSheet-Sheet 1 & INVENTOR BY Lt I'Mu ATTORNEYS Feb. 10, 1931. w. F.GLASSER 1,792,084

METHOD OF AND APPARATUS FOR TUNNEL CONSTRUCTION Filed June 9. 1926 sSheets-Sheet 2 XNVENTOR Wfi-a M ATTORNEY$ Feb. 30, 1931. w; F. GLASSERMETHOD OF AND APPARATUS FOR TUNNEL CONSTRUCTION Filed June 9, 1926 3Sheets-Sheet 3 %%&Yf2%w ATTORNEYS Patented Feb. 10, 1931 UNITED-"STATEPATENT oFrlcs- WILLIAM FREDERICK. HGLASS'ER, [on r ir'rsisUnen,PENNSYLVANIA, AssIeNoR T "BLAVT-KNOX co rn Y, or PITTSBURGH,PENNSYLVANIA, A CORPORATION or NEW JERSEY 1 1 METHOD 03am) Arriiii'l mnsre n 'rn Nnr. CONSTRUCTION f Application filed .T iiiie 9,:1926 SerialNo. 114,669.

This invention relates'to the lining of turn nels with concrete and hasforits principal, object the speeding up of and the simplifica tion ofsuch work. I e r Another object is to efiectively ,correlatethetunneling and the {liningoperations where by there ls a mlmmum ofnt'erference of one with the other. 1 a

More specifically it'is vention to provide means whereby the forms,

form suppo'rts,excavating cars nd othe in-' strumentalities employed maybe manipulated to the greatest advantage.

How the foregoing together with such other obje'ctsand advantages asmayhereinafter appear, or'are'incident fto my invention, are realized,is illustrated in preferred form in the accompanying drawings wherein:

Fig. 1 is a longitudinal vertical section thru a tunnel with the variousmechanism 1 employ shown therein.

Fig. 2 is a plan section takensubstantially the tunnel. .The supportingdevice C 15 of on the line 22 of Fig. "1-. 1

Fig. 3 is a cross section taken substant ally on the line 3-3 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 4 is a longitudinal vertical section thru a tunnel showing amodification of my in-:

' Referring now more particularly to Figs.

1. 2 and 3, it will be seen that the forms indicated by the referenceletter A are pref-' erably offchanneled sheet inetal/ construction, andmade of two half sections 6,.and 7 having the hinged wing sections '8and 9 respectively. Forms of this general type are now extensively usedin this art and'it is therefore unnecessary to describe in'detail theirconstruction or the construction ofthe supporting device ,or travelerBused in con-.-

nection with the forms for the handling thereof. It will therefore beunderstood thatthe particular construction ofthe forms and the travelerdoes not constitute partof my invention but in carrying out myinventionI provide novel means in association with the traveler andforms whereby the w0rk of lining tunnels may be expediteiand 1t.;1s.to

annbject of the ill-,-

this and the method of carrying on the work portion on the supporting orchannel device C, sultable cross ties or stringers'l l of course beingprovided underneath the rails.

The supporting device C is supported at the left end, as viewed in Fig.1, on the finished concrete invert as by means of the blocking 15 and atthe right end on the floor of the excavated portion by means of thewheels 15 resting'on theblocking 17.. Wedges may be employed inassociation with the blocking 15 and 17 whereby the device C with itsrails may he brought to the proper grade with respect to the railswithin the lined portion of sufficient length to span the stretch to belined which in this particular instance is approximately 15 feet.

In this connection it is pointed out that the length of the stretch tobe lined of course de pends upon theamount of heading excavated, or onthe length of section of form which it is desired to shift. A.convenient length for the panels of a form is feet so that the sectionofsform shifted may be 5 feet or multiples of '5 feet. 5

The method of procedure as thus far de scribed is as follows. Thesupporting device C is advanced into the excavated unlined portion ofthe tunnel and the blocking and 17 is inserted to bring it to the propergrade, then the tracks and ties are laid on the device G, then thetravelerB carrying a collapsed form A is run, thru a form or formsremaining in'pla ce forthe concrete to set, onto the advancedtrackage,after whichthe form is positioned for forming the lining in theexcavated section of tunnel. Having thus supportedthe'traveler andpositioned the form the concrete lining is formed, the next section oftunnel excavated, the support advanced and the above procedure repeatedand so on until the tunnel is completed.

lVhen a new section of lining is completed the ties 14, are supportedfrom the invert by means of the blocking 18 afterwhich the support C maybe lowered by removing the blocking 15.

It is to be noted that the work of placing the invert and of forming thearch can be carried on without imposing any strain whatever on theinvert because the form and traveler are supported from the support Cwhich in turn has its points of support beyond the extent of the liningbeing laid. Therefore a saving of time is effected over the methodspreviously followed, as itis unnecessary to wait for the invert toharden so as to :arry the arch form in the usual manner.

Referring now more particularly to Figs. 2 and 3 I have shown therein anovel arrangement of trackage the outside rails 10 and 11 as abovementioned being for the traveler B. The inside rails 12 and 13 are sospaced that the gauge therebetween is the same as the gauge between themand the outside rails 10 and 11 so that by tho employement of suitableswitching means a two track run, a single track run, or both may beprovided for the excavating cars 19. In the drawings I have shown aswitching arrangement D whereby the double track system E, E in theheading is connected into a single track system F in the finished partof the tunnel, each track E of the double track system being formed ofan outer rail and an inside rail and the single track F being formed ofthe two inside rails.

From the foregoing it will be seen that the outer rails 10 and 11 are tobe used at times as traveler tracks and at times as part of theexcavating car track and in order to be enabled to readily convert themfrom one to the other I have provided a short removable section ofcurved track 20 which may be replaced by a straight section (as shown indotted lines) when the traveler is to be-moved along its track.

By the above novel arrangement of trackage two sets of excavating carsmay be used, one set to be loaded while the other set is being emptied.The arrangement is such that it will never be necessary to remove morethan one section of outer track in order to" move the traveler onesection toward the heading and the inner track need not be dis turbedexcept as may be required to shift the frog and s vitch D as the workprogresses. The ties are left in place from theiti'me they are laiduntil the tunnel is finished. A

t will be understood that my invention is particularly useful if thetunnel is to be built in soft soil in which case the gaining of time isa very important matter.

Referring now to the modification shown in Figs. 4: and 5 it will beseen that the forms in this instance consist of lagging plates 21 whichare inserted between ribs 22, successive plates being inserted as theconcrete is placed. The concrete is placed from the working platform 23by shoveling it over the last inserted plate into the space between theplate and the earth. In this case when the form is moved end rib 22 isfirst taken out, and then the adjoining plates 21, the ribs 22 beingcollapsed and carried forward toward the heading, reerected in a newposition and the plates inserted between the ribs as the work is carriedout.

In this modification a traveler is not employed, therefore, a two tracksystem for the handling of the material is run from the heading as farback into the tunnel as desired the rails being supported on beams 24stretching across from one side of the form to the other where the railspass thru the form. As the work progr'ess'esand the forms are movedforwardly ties 25 are slipped under the rails and blocked up on thefinished concrete.

The ribs 22 which in turn support the la gi-n'g plates 21 are supportedin the excavated unlined portion of the tunnel by means of the needlebeams or channel support C. The needle beams C are supported at one endon a bench 26 in the excavated portion of the tunnel and at the otherend on one of the ribs 22 at which the concrete lining is finished. By.employing this arrangement no track shifting has to bedone and theworking space is greater than wheretravelers are used.

In bad ground the distance which the needle beamsjare advanced at anyonetime may be ust suflicient for placing as short a section of liningas may be desired, to keep the lining close to the end of the heading.

I claim 1. In tunnel lining apparatus, the combination of a plurality ofmulti-part forms collapsible in. assembled relation, a traveler forhandling the forms in assembled relation to move them from one point ofuse to another, and trackage for said traveler in the completed portionof the tunnel and extending as a continuation thereof into an excavatedportion of the tunnel in advance of the completed portion, the advancetrackage resting on finished work at one end and on the floor of theexcavated portion at the other end beyond the point to which the nextsection of invert to be laid will extend, and the forms when collapsedin assembled relation being movable with the traveler through forms inplace to position for forming the lining in the advance excavatedportion.

2. In apparatus for constructing concrete tunnels and'the' like, thecombination of'a p'hirality'of mulZti -part form units collapsible inassembled relation, a traveler for handling said form units, and meansfor supporting said traveler including tra'ckage supported atone end onfinished concrete work and at the other end on the excavated portion ofthe work, the form units when collapsed in assembled relation beingmovable with the maining in place into an excavated unlined portion ofthe tunnel, trackage for said traveler supported in the lined portion ofthe tunnel by the lining, advance trackage for said traveler extendingas a continuation of the aforesaid trackage into the advance excavatedunlined portion of the tunnel, a support for the advance trackagesupported at one end on finished lining and at the other end on theexcavated portion, said supporting points being separated a suilicientdistance to permit of lining a stretch of the excavated portion withoutinterference therewith, and said track support and tracks being elevatedabove the lining to permit of placing the lining, without interference,whereby the support'may be again readily advanced to support the nextadvance trackage.

l. The process of lining tunnels and the like with concrete whichconsists in shifting a support into an excavated unlined portion of thetunnel, in supporting said support at its end portions at points clearof the section of lining to be laid in said excavated section of thetunnel, in carrying multi-part form work collapsible in assembled unitson said support, in lining said-section, in advancing the support into anewly excavated portion, meanwhile leaving the form for the section justlaid until said section sets, and in advancing through said form otherpreviously used collapsed form work to be carried on said support forthe lining of the newly excavated section and in repeating'the operation.

5. The herein described method of constructing concrete tunnels and thelike, which consists in advancing a track support into the excavatedunlined portion of the tunnel, in supporting said support beyond theextent of the particular section to be laid, in laying the track, inrunning a form carrying traveler onto said tracks, in positioning saidform for forming the lining in said sec tion, in forming the lining, inexcavating a section of the tunnel in advance of said lined section, insupporting said track on finished lining, in advancing the track supportand in supporting said support and in laying track as above mentioned,in collapsing a previously erected form in assembled relation onto thetraveler, in carrying said form through the last erected 'form to thenewly excavated section, inwpositioning said form for forming the liningin said section and in excavating a'section of tunnel in advance of saidlast lined section." a 6. The herein described method of'constructingconcrete tunnels and the like, which consists in advancing a tracksupportinto the excavated unlined portion of the tunnel, in supportingsaid support on finished lining atone end and beyond the extent ortheparticular' sectiontobellaid at the other'end,in laying thetrack, inrunning a form carrying raveleronto said tracks, in positioning saidform for forming'the lining in said section, in formingthe lining, inexcavating a section of the tunnel in advance of said lined sectioninadvancing a form collapsed in assembled relation and carried by thetraveler through theforin ju'st positioned to the section justexcavated,in positioning said form and in forming the lining for saidsection.

7. The hereindescribed method of constructing concrete tunnelsand thelike, which consists in laying an invert section, in excavating asection of the tunnel beyond said invert section, in positioning a tracksupport sothat one end is supported on the laid invert and the other endbeyond the point where the 1 next invertto be laid will extend, inlaying track on said support, in running a form carrying traveler onsaid track, in forming the lining in said excavated section, inexcavating an advance section of the tunnel, in advancing the tracksupport and supporting it as above in allowing the'form to remain inerected position to permit the lining to set, in collapsing in assembledrelation a previously erected form and advancing it with the carrierthrough said remaining form to the newly excavated portion, inpositioning said advanced form, and in forming the lining for saidportion.

8. In apparatus for lining tunnels with concrete, the combination or aform for the interior side walls and arch of the tunnel, a

traveler adapted to support said form and to convey it longitudinally ofthe tunnel when collapsed away from the tunnel walls, a section of tracksupported on finished concrete invert of the tunnel for the support ofsaid traveler when in position for removing forms, a second section oftrack for supporting said traveler when in position for placing forms toreceive concrete, and a bridge, one end of which is supported uponfinished concrete invert and the other end on the unconcreted tunnelfloor, said second section of track being mounted on said bridge andbeing long enough to permit theplacing or one complete concrete invertsection beneath it, and said two track sections registering withoneanother for the to and fro movement of the traveler.

9. In apparatus for lining tunnels with concrete, the combination of aform for the interior side Walls and arch of the tunnel, a traveleradapted to support said form and to convey it longitudinally of thetunnel when collapsed away from the tunnel Walls, a section of tracksupported on finished concrete invert of the tunnel for the support ofsaid traveler when in position for removing forms, a second section oftrack for supporting said traveler when in position for placing forms toreceive concrete, and a bridge, one end of which is supported uponfinished concrete invert and the other end on the unconcreted tunnelfloor, said second section of track being mounted on said bridge andbeing long enough to permit the placing of one complete concrete invertsection beneath it, and said two track sections registering With oneanother for the to and fro movement of the traveler, together withtrackage at the same elevation as that for the traveler, for themovement of cars through the traveler and beyond it toward the heading,the tracks for said cars being carried over said bridge, and a switchfor rendering the trackage double tracked beyond the carrier in thedirection of the heading.

In testimony whereof, I have hereunto signed my name.

W. F. GLASSER.

